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The Great Apes - Part 1 - Bonobos

© Karen Hawkins

Intro and Bonobos

The great apes are some of the most majestic primates in the world. They include gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and bonobos. All great apes generally don't have tails unlike monkeys. The Great Ape Project wants human rights extended to non-human Great Apes. "The Great Ape Project - Equality Beyond Humanity", edited by Paola Cavalieri & Peter Singer is a must read book for those who want to know more about this philosophy. It presents detailed chapters submitted by primatologists from all over the world who believe we must begin to treat these creatures with the same compassion and ethics as humans. The reasoning behind these ideals is very persuasive. The social structure, psychological indications and biological functions are so much like our own that it can no longer be ignored. Haulting research done on them is one of the first and foremost concerns addressed in this book.

Some of the similarities exhibited in apes are different tool-using behaviors, linguistic ability and "theory of the mind" - Diane Fossey observed gorillas engaging in complex social behaviors. Apes have been observed attempting to deceive others. A number of scientists have provided evidence that apes can learn to use language even though they can't speak. Stuart Shanker, a professor of psychology and philosophy at York University in Toronto, and co-author of Apes, Language and the Human Mind bases his opinion on his own studies with a bonobo named Kanzi. This great ape was made famous by primate researcher Sue Savage-Rumbaugh of Georgia State University. In 1992 Kanzi "talked" by pointing to symbols on a special keyboard. Roger and Debbie Fauts claim they taught a chimpanzee named Washoe to use American Sign Language for the deaf.

Great Apes have been observed trying to deceive others -- an act that requires knowledge that someone else has a different point of view. "Great Apes are better candidates for protection, because they are probably more complex than other primates which do not show intentionality [self-awareness, the ability to deceive]," Paul Waldau says."But elephants and dolphins also show such complexities. And humans are Great Apes too -- anything we achieve would apply to them as well." Human DNA is 98.4 percent identical to the DNA of chimps and bonobos.

Four Great Apes Game - for kids "http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/game.html"

Bonobos - Bonobos are found in Africa in the Congo River basin in Congo, which used to be called Zaire. They classified as Pan paniscus in the textbooks and are also called pygmy chimpanzees. Bonobos are extremely endangered. No official census has been taken because the animals live in such a remote area. But scientists believe there are only between 10,000 and 20,000 left in their natural habitat in the Congolese jungle, plus a few hundred scattered around zoos and primate centers throughout the world.

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